There is a generation for whom there will always be a "hood" and "druben give. Dr. Karl-heinz dathe belongs to this generation. And when he reports on his life in his practice, a piece of contemporary history passes by.
As dathe on 18. May 1940 is born in leipzig, there is war in germany. It is one germany, and its borders are bigger than they used to be. When the young man sits in the lecture hall, there are two german states. Their division is sealed in 1961 with the building of the wall. Next to medical lectures there are subjects like "marxism and leninism on the curriculum. "It annoyed us, but of course we couldn't say it out loud", tells dathe. Even the student protests that swept through the federal republic of germany in 1968 passed him by. "We have only seen this on television", tells the internist.
Advantages for functionaries
After his studies in leipzig (1958 to 1964) dathe goes to thuringia. On 1. September 1964 he begins his practical year in a polyclinic in the suhl area. 1966 he moves to the internal medicine department in meiningen, where he completes his residency until 1970 – and sticks around. Dathe becomes a ward physician, later a senior physician. "We were a great team. We still meet today", he tells.
But the political pressure is rough. He does not even stop at the hospitals. "It was preferred, in all cases", tells dathe. The station had to keep one or two rooms available in case one of the functionaries became ill. "Then all of a sudden there were the drugs that we otherwise couldn't get hold of so easily," he says, reports dathe. The personal limitation weighed even more heavily. "This feeling of being locked up and not being able to get out", karl-heinz dathe calls it.